Albemarle Corporation

Hello and welcome to Albemarle Corporation's Q1 2026 earnings call. I will now hand it over to Meredith Brandy, Vice President of Investor Relations and Sustainability.

Thank you and welcome everyone to Albemarle's first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Our earnings were released after market closed yesterday and you'll find the press release and earnings presentation posted to our website under the investors section at albemarle.com. Joining me on the call today are Kent Masters, Chief Executive Officer, and Neil Sherry, Chief Financial Officer, Mark Mummert, Chief Operations Officer, and Eric Norris, Chief Commercial Officer, are also available for Q&A. As a reminder, some of the statements made during this call, including our outlooks, guidance, expected company performance, and strategic initiatives, may constitute forward-looking statements. Please note the cautionary language about forward-looking statements contained in our press release and earnings presentation, that same language also applies to this call. Please also note that some of our comments today may refer to non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations can be found in our earnings materials. And now I'll turn the call over to Kent.

Thank you, Meredith. I'm pleased to report that Albemarle's performance is off to a strong start for 2026. For the first quarter, we reported net sales of $1.4 billion, up 33% year over year. We also delivered adjusted EBITDA of $664 million, more than double the same period last year, reflecting higher pricing and volume in both energy storage and specialties, as well as cost and productivity improvements. We continue to see strong in-market demand, which I will discuss in greater detail as we get into the presentation. Our business is well positioned and resilient in markets. We are maintaining our outlook for strong lithium market growth led by energy storage demand, which is up 117% year over year. We remain focused on the areas within our control and made progress during the quarter enhancing operational excellence, focusing on cost and productivity discipline, and driving cash generation to enable long term volume and earnings growth. In the first quarter, following the successful sales of our EuroCat joint venture and the controlling stake intention, we repaid $1.3 billion of debt, further strengthening our balance sheet and reducing interest expense. As Neil will share shortly, we are raising our 2026 outlook for specialties net sales between $1.3 and $1.5 billion and adjusted EBITDA outlook between $225 and $275 million, reflecting higher pricing and volumes in our specialties business. Moreover, year-to-date, we've delivered $40 million in cost and productivity improvements and remain on track to hit our full-year target of $100 million. to $150 million. We're able to maintain our corporate outlook scenarios as these improvements offset supply chain disruptions. Now, I'll turn it over to Neil to discuss recent results and outlook. I will then cover recent market trends and growth projects before we open the call for Q&A.